| | Overview (Source: Frommers) |
443km (275 miles) S of Lima Nasca (also spelled Nazca) would just be a dusty little desert town of little interest were it not for the strange presence of massive, mysterious drawings -- the famous Nasca Lines -- etched into the sands of the pampas more than a millennium ago. Ancient peoples created a vast tapestry of "geoglyphs" -- trapezoids and triangles, 70-odd animal and plant figures, and more than 10,000 lines -- that have baffled observers for decades. They are so large, with some figures reaching dimensions of 300m (1,000 ft.), that they can be appreciated only from the air. Over the years, theorists have posited that they were signs from the gods, agricultural and astronomical calendars, or even extraterrestrial airports. Some believe that the drawers of the lines must themselves have had the ability to fly, perhaps in hot-air balloons, over the designs below. The wildest theories, today discredited by all but fringe-dwelling true believers, prompted the old book and movie The Chariots of the Gods. The town and the drawings are named for the Nasca culture (300 B.C.-A.D. 700), which succeeded the Paracas civilization along the southern desert coast. Little was known about the Nasca until the beginning of the 20th century. Today the Nasca are renowned for their exquisitely stylized pottery, among the finest of pre-Columbian Peru. The small town of Nasca was devastated by a monstrous earthquake in 1996 and is just getting back on its feet. Most construction
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